-
Famous Composers
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 2 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 11-07-05
- Language: English
- Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks
Regular price: $12.59
People who bought this also bought...
-
More Famous Composers
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 8
The first volume of Famous Composers, written by Darren Henley and read by Marin Alsop, the American conductor, won a prestigious Audie in the US. Here, Henley and the Naxos AudioBooks team bring the combination of an entertaining but informative "life" and numerous musical selections to a further set of six composers.
-
The Story of Classical Music
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 147
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
The lives and music of the great composers of classical music unfold in this entertaining account, introduced by the conductor and musical personality Marin Alsop. In 1200 years, classical music grew from the chanting of medieval monks through the symphonies of Beethoven and the grand operas of Wagner to the huge orchestral sound-world of the 21st century, with its electronics and its film music.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting, informative, easy
- By Boulderite on 12-31-05
-
Chopin
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 19 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
This is a story from the More Famous Composers collection.
-
Haydn
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 24 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1
This is a story from the More Famous Composers collection.
-
Mendelssohn
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 22 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1
This is a story from the More Famous Composers collection.
-
Elements of Jazz: From Cakewalks to Fusion
- By: Bill Messenger, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Bill Messenger
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 338
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 296
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 294
Jazz is a uniquely American art form, one of America's great contributions to not only musical culture, but world culture, with each generation of musicians applying new levels of creativity that take the music in unexpected directions that defy definition, category, and stagnation. Now you can learn the basics and history of this intoxicating genre in an eight-lecture series that is as free-flowing and original as the art form itself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good introduction, but serious omissions.
- By MidwestGeek on 02-13-17
-
More Famous Composers
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 8
The first volume of Famous Composers, written by Darren Henley and read by Marin Alsop, the American conductor, won a prestigious Audie in the US. Here, Henley and the Naxos AudioBooks team bring the combination of an entertaining but informative "life" and numerous musical selections to a further set of six composers.
-
The Story of Classical Music
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 147
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
The lives and music of the great composers of classical music unfold in this entertaining account, introduced by the conductor and musical personality Marin Alsop. In 1200 years, classical music grew from the chanting of medieval monks through the symphonies of Beethoven and the grand operas of Wagner to the huge orchestral sound-world of the 21st century, with its electronics and its film music.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting, informative, easy
- By Boulderite on 12-31-05
-
Chopin
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 19 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
This is a story from the More Famous Composers collection.
-
Haydn
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 24 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1
This is a story from the More Famous Composers collection.
-
Mendelssohn
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 22 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1
This is a story from the More Famous Composers collection.
-
Elements of Jazz: From Cakewalks to Fusion
- By: Bill Messenger, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Bill Messenger
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 338
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 296
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 294
Jazz is a uniquely American art form, one of America's great contributions to not only musical culture, but world culture, with each generation of musicians applying new levels of creativity that take the music in unexpected directions that defy definition, category, and stagnation. Now you can learn the basics and history of this intoxicating genre in an eight-lecture series that is as free-flowing and original as the art form itself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good introduction, but serious omissions.
- By MidwestGeek on 02-13-17
-
Who Was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
- By: Yona Zeldis McDonough
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
Born in Austria in 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his first piece of music, a minuet, when he was just five years old! Soon after, he was performing for kings and emperors. Although he died at the young age of 35, Mozart left a legacy of more than 600 works. This fascinating biography charts the musician's extraordinary career and personal life while painting a vivid cultural history of 18th-century Europe.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing
- By Colleen Harper on 07-20-18
-
Composers' Letters
- By: Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Narrated by: Jeremy Nicholas, Daniel Philpott, Edward de Souza
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 8
Set against the music we know and love, Mozart, Beethoven, and many more come alive through their correspondence. Poignant, funny, revealing, informative and so often direct and honest, these letters offer a fascinating insight into the personalities that created our Western musical tradition.
-
Famous People in History
- By: Nicolas Soames
- Narrated by: Trevor Nichols, Katinka Wolf
- Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Here are the stories of nine people whose energy, imagination, courage, and determination changed the world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good subject, but way too much personal opinion
- By RAC on 10-25-04
-
Rachmaninov
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 25 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
This is a story from the More Famous Composers collection.
-
The Life and Works of Beethoven
- By: Jeremy Siepmann
- Narrated by: Jeremy Siepmann, Bob Peck, Neville Jason, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13
For many people, Beethoven is the greatest composer who ever lived. In this portrait-in-sound, actors’ readings combine with his music to reveal a titanic personality, both vulnerable and belligerent, comic and tragic, and above all heroic, as he comes to grips with perhaps the greatest disability a musician can suffer. No man’s music is more universal; few men’s lives are more inspiring. In every sense but one - his modest height - he was a giant. The great bonus of this audio-biography is that the development of Beethoven’s music can be heard in the context of his life.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I'm a Believer
- By SydSavvy on 10-20-14
-
Handel
- By: Darren Henley
- Narrated by: Marin Alsop
- Length: 24 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4
This is a story from the More Famous Composers collection.
-
Life & Works - Franz Schubert
- By: Jeremy Siepmann
- Narrated by: Jeremy Siepmann, Tom George, Peter Yapp, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
The life of Franz Schubert has been a gift to romantically inclined biographers: the beautiful, brilliant, modest boy who sprang to fully fledged genius at the age of sixteen; the quintessential ‘artist in a garret’, entirely consumed by his art and living a hand-to-mouth existence in Vienna (home of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven); the gentle, cheerful, convivial young man who prized friendship almost as highly as music itself; the unworldly poet from whom great music poured like water from a fountain; the unrecognized master who died almost penniless at the age of 31.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Informative Look at Franz Schubert, the Heir to Beethoven's Musical Legacy
- By Margaret on 07-06-18
-
Keyboard Conversations
- The Romance of the Piano
- By: Jeffrey Siegel
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Siegel
- Length: 1 hr and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 7
Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel combine the virtuosity and poetry of a world-class pianist with entertaining commentary to create a magical concert experience. His lively, engaging insights and captivating performances make listening an enthralling experience for all music lovers.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wish the playing was better
- By K. Papadakis on 12-27-11
-
Ludwig van Beethoven
- 1770 - 1827
- By: David Allen
- Narrated by: Richard Mayes
- Length: 1 hr and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3
"Imagine a blind painter!" So said Richard Wagner when describing the effect of deafness on a composer. Yet Ludwig van Beethoven was a man with the character to overcome this seemingly incapacitating disability and produce some of the most powerful and beautiful music ever written. This fascinating programme selects the words of Beethoven and his contemporaries, and includes excerpts from his best known and loved works.
-
Who Was William Shakespeare?
- By: Celeste Mannis
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
The beloved plays of Shakespeare are still produced everywhere, yet the life of the world's most famous playwright remains largely a mystery. Young Will left the town of Stratford to pursue theater in London, where his work eventually thrived and made him a famous and wealthy man.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
an audio book for kids
- By Louise Bao on 10-29-15
-
Who Was Thomas Alva Edison?
- By: Margaret Frith
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 1 hr and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
One day in 1882, Thomas Edison flipped a switch that lit up lower Manhattan with incandescent light and changed the way people live ever after. The electric light bulb was only one of thousands of Edison's inventions, which include the phonograph and the kinetoscope, an early precursor to the movie camera. As a boy, observing a robin catch a worm and then take flight, he fed a playmate a mixture of worms and water to see if she could fly!
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
inspirating
- By Elcio on 10-13-15
-
Who Was King Tut?
- By: Roberta Edwards
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Ever since Howard Carter uncovered King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, the young pharaoh has become a symbol of the wealth and mystery of ancient Egypt. Now, a two-and-a-half-year-long museum exhibit of Tut's treasures is touring major cities in the U.S., drawing record crowds. This audiobook explains the life and times of this ancient Egyptian ruler, covering the story of the tomb's discovery, as well as myths and so-called mummy curses.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unusual entry in a wonderful series
- By EmilyK on 06-06-16
Editorial Reviews
Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, and Shostakovich make up this delightful introduction to famous composers, an Audie-nominated production filled with re-enactments, musical excerpts, and facts on the six composers. Adult or child can certainly gain an understanding about the composers' lives, as well as the relevance of their music. Some information may elude the listener, such as particular music cues in each excerpt, but one can't help walking away with a better appreciation of music overall. While the accents seem unnecessary, the reenactments prove to be a good vehicle for educating listeners. Marin Alsop narrates the text in a light and welcoming voice that creates an enjoyable atmosphere for learning.
Publisher's Summary
Following on the success of The Story of Classical Music, Darren Henley and Marin Alsop combine forces again to tell, in more detail, the lives of six key composers: Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak, and Shostakovich. Their colourful lives and their love of music are told against the backdrop of some of their finest works, an ideal combination.
Critic Reviews
- 2005 Audie Award Winner, Original Work
More from the same
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
3.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars7
-
4 Stars13
-
3 Stars8
-
2 Stars1
-
1 Stars3
Performance
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars5
-
4 Stars6
-
3 Stars3
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Story
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars4
-
4 Stars7
-
3 Stars4
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Elaine
- Hong KongHong Kong
- 03-04-07
Enjoyable
This is a great beginner's guide to classical music and famous composers. The good use of narration, dialogue/role-play, songs and sound effects make this a well-executed audiobook.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- lindal
- 04-16-15
Light, but interesting
Would have enjoyed more details, but an interesting overview of these great composers. Easy enough story I may have my granddaughter listen to it as well.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- TZVI SZAJNBRUM
- 06-20-12
Classical Music for Dummies
This short audio book was geared for young listeners but I thoroughly enjoyed it as I am quite ignorant when it comes to classical music. I was provided with a short concise history and overview of five main composers. I listen now with a more practiced ear!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- aLovingParent
- HOUSTON, TX, United States
- 04-05-12
love it, great starter for kids.
Any additional comments?
love it, great starter for kids.
I don't know why another reviewer is saying that the composer's names are not mentioned (which is not true at all). I am so happy I bought this rather than mis leaded by that review.
Not only the composers' names are clearly mentioned, the story is dramatised, the music and story are beautifully connected together. Whatelse do you expect from a educational and entertaining audio book for kids!
I would recommend this to all my friends.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Seung
- 01-25-12
amazing!
What does Marin Alsop bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
This audiobook helped me & my kids understand better about famous musicians with corresponding music here & there while we are on the road. My 7 year old boy is enjoying this audiobook so much in the car, listening to the stories of famous musicians and their musics. Fantastic! Love it!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
- Tammy
- Powell, OH, USA
- 09-23-08
Entertaining but clearly intended for children
The description shoud say intended for elementary age children.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
- Kim
- Yonkers, NY, USA
- 07-31-08
Disappointing
The description should state that this is intended for children, not adults.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
- Stanley
- Farmington Hills, MI, USA
- 02-15-06
Juvenile telling
I listened to the first 25 minutes of the book and gave up. It begins by telling an anecdote, but not naming the composer. Then a short snippet of music. This gets repeated for more unnamed composers. Seems like a juvenile way of beginning what I hoped would be informative biographies. Very unsatisfactory.
Stan Beattie
3 of 6 people found this review helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Marcus
- 10-10-06
Start Here
An excellent starting point for understanding and enjoying classical music good for children of about 12 and up but I enjoyed it as an adult.